Art. XV. — Sneezing: Fdllacious Observations. 

 By James W. Barrett, M.D., M.S., F.R.C.S. Eng. 



Demoustrator and Examiner in Physiology in the University of Melbourne. 

 fReacl December 8, 1892.] 



In the last edition of '' Foster's Physiology," there occur 

 the following passages : — " Coughing consists in the first 

 place of a deep and long-drawn inspiration, by which the 

 lungs are well filled with air. This is followed by a complete 

 closure of the glottis, and then comes the sudden forcible 

 expiration, in the midst of which the glottis suddenly opens, 

 and thus a blast of air is driven through the upper respira- 

 tory passages. The afferent impulses of this reflex act are 

 in most cases, as when a foreign bod}^ is lodged in the larynx 

 or by the side of the epiglottis, conveyed by tlie superior 

 laryngeal nerve. But the movement may arise from stimuli 

 applied to other branches of tlie vagus." 



" In sneezing, the genei'al movement is essentially the 

 same (as in coughing), except that the opening from the 

 pharynx into the mouth is closed b}' the contraction of the 

 anterior pillars of the fauces, and the descent of the soft 

 palate, so that the force of the blast is driven entirely 

 through the nose. The afferent impulse is usually given 

 from tiie na.sal branches of the fifth." When sneezing, 

 however, is produced by bright light, the optic nerve would 

 seem to be the afferent nerve. 



In Landois and Stirling, sneezing is described as consisting 

 "of a sudden violent expiratory blast through the nose for 

 the removal of mucus or foreign bodies (the mouth being 

 rarely open), after a simple or repeated spasm-like inspiration 

 (the glottis remaining open)." 



In " McKendrick's Physiology," coughing and sneezing are 

 described as powerful expirations, in which the air is driven 

 through the oral cavity in the first, and through the nasal 

 passages in the second. 



